Deploy and Host GOWA (WhatsApp REST API) on Railway

GOWA (go-whatsapp-web-multidevice) is a WhatsApp REST API and MCP server written in Go. It links WhatsApp accounts as companion devices and lets you send and receive messages, media, locations, polls and group actions over HTTP, with webhooks for incoming events. It supports several accounts in one instance.

About Hosting GOWA (WhatsApp REST API)

This template runs the official aldinokemal2104/go-whatsapp-web-multidevice:v9.4.0 image as one service. The dashboard and the whole API are behind basic auth (user admin and a generated password); only /health is public. Linked-device sessions and chat storage live in SQLite on a Railway volume at /app/storages, so paired accounts survive redeploys. Set WHATSAPP_WEBHOOK to receive incoming messages, signed with a generated secret. It is a single small Go binary and fits the Hobby plan. WhatsApp can ban numbers used for spam, so use a number you can afford to lose and respect their terms.

Common Use Cases

Sending WhatsApp notifications from apps and n8n workflows
Receiving WhatsApp messages in a chatbot through webhooks
Giving AI agents WhatsApp tools over MCP

Dependencies for GOWA (WhatsApp REST API) Hosting

aldinokemal2104/go-whatsapp-web-multidevice:v9.4.0 (official image)
A Railway volume at /app/storages

Deployment Dependencies

Implementation Details

Service	Source	Networking	Storage
gowa	`aldinokemal2104/go-whatsapp-web-multidevice:v9.4.0`	public domain on 3000	volume at `/app/storages`

Pair a phone: open the dashboard, add a device and scan the QR code in WhatsApp → Linked devices. Or use the API:

curl -u admin:$GOWA_PASSWORD -X POST https:///devices -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{"device_id":"main"}'
curl -u admin:$GOWA_PASSWORD -H 'X-Device-Id: main' https:///app/login

Variable	Default	Purpose
`GOWA_PASSWORD`	generated	Basic-auth password for user `admin`
`APP_BASIC_AUTH`	`admin:${{GOWA_PASSWORD}}`	Accounts accepted by the API
`WHATSAPP_WEBHOOK`	empty	URL(s) for incoming events
`WHATSAPP_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	generated	HMAC secret for webhook signatures

Notes:

QR code images and received media are served from /statics under random names without auth, and are not on the volume.
This template was tested up to QR generation; pairing a real phone was not tested.

This is a community-maintained deployment package and does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by the GOWA project or WhatsApp.

Why Deploy GOWA (WhatsApp REST API) on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying GOWA (WhatsApp REST API) on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.